tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35830188417328852932014-10-03T02:44:08.133-05:00tea-sipping paint-spiller.a focus point for all the things i do, places i go, and things i learn -- shared.Kate Mothesnoreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-61296549275138466882011-08-12T09:15:00.009-05:002011-08-12T09:31:14.329-05:00Simplest sweet corn!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNq97j25y7U/TkU2LIVpSoI/AAAAAAAAA1w/hIGhamyl8gw/s1600/corn2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNq97j25y7U/TkU2LIVpSoI/AAAAAAAAA1w/hIGhamyl8gw/s400/corn2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639973673196145282" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Usually, when making something for dinner, one of the thoughts to inevitably pass through my head is, "Is this something that I can take to work for lunch tomorrow?" The bagged-lunch dilemma ensues. Refrigerated or not, it needs to taste good when I eat it/warm it back up. I'm not by any means a fan of leftovers, with the exception of those that improve after a day or two such as chili or lasagna. Corn, on the other hand, I thought would be just fine for next-day snacking, if I made more than I needed.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I've been on a bit of a vegetable bender, which, I'll be the first to admit, is a) accidental and b) not typical. I don't eat many veggies -- not plain, and not usually by choice. I like them, sure. But I like them fresh and local, and if there aren't any, I'm not interested. And unless I need broccoli for a recipe, I won't buy it. I'm just not a garden-variety grocery store produce shopper, I guess.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Weird.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">But this summer, as the farmers markets have been going and I know a couple of people with CSAs that provide more than enough produce to go around, I've found myself with all sorts of vegetables that I wouldn't have ever bought for myself. And crazy as it sounds, corn on the cob is one of those things. I've never bought corn on the cob, ever.</span>
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<br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pAiwIhsdu8/TkU2Kj0ZtVI/AAAAAAAAA1o/Tnvpwpmt-iU/s1600/corn1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6pAiwIhsdu8/TkU2Kj0ZtVI/AAAAAAAAA1o/Tnvpwpmt-iU/s400/corn1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639973663393035602" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I can still say I've never bought it -- it was given to me. But now I can't say that I never prepared it for myself either, at least from something other than a can. (Eeeeep!)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When my parents used to make corn on the cob for dinner during summers as a kid, eating it off the cob was great, but it was always a special treat when mom would cut the kernels off with a sharp knife so that I could eat it with a fork and not worry about getting it in my teeth. I always enjoyed how it sliced off in little sheets, looking almost honeycomb-ish. This wasn't the usual way of eating it, though, and it takes a little extra patience to slice al the kernels off when it's perfectly fine to eat with skewers stuck in the ends of the cob. But for whatever reason, the scarcity of this mode of eating corn fresh off the cob made it my very favorite way to eat it.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So that's how I made it. :) Bring water in a large pot to boiling, drop in de-husked corn cobs in water for 7 minutes, remove and let cool just slightly, then with a sharp knife shave off the kernels. Toss in a bowl, melt a little bit of butter in there, salt and pepper to taste, nom nom nom nom. Haha.</span>
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<br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7lJdtx0ZEdc/TkU2Lux6MWI/AAAAAAAAA14/C9TVdanZops/s1600/corn3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7lJdtx0ZEdc/TkU2Lux6MWI/AAAAAAAAA14/C9TVdanZops/s400/corn3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639973683515240802" border="0" /></a></span>
<br />Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-68836783944723422732011-08-09T13:50:00.006-05:002011-08-09T14:46:29.026-05:00Summer squash parmesan crisps.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oWeb-3cApl4/TkGN0fajPNI/AAAAAAAAA1g/zQ-iMH8doic/s1600/squashcrisps4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oWeb-3cApl4/TkGN0fajPNI/AAAAAAAAA1g/zQ-iMH8doic/s400/squashcrisps4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638944141370146002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">My mother passed this recipe along, having used zucchini from her CSA and finding it to be a perfect way to use up a bunch of zummertime zucchini. (I didn't mean to type 'zummertime' but I'm leaving it.)</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">A coworker gave me a bag of delightful yellow summer squash the other day from her organic weekly produce haul, along with some kale -- I mentioned before how I'm not a huge kale fan, therefore I'm hoping to find a use for it before it goes bad. The summer squash, though, was too much to pass up. So I grabbed some parmesan and those magical little breadcrumbs known as Panko, and set to work making the easiest snack/side dish ever. It's perfect for as many people as you want to serve because you can make as little or as much as you want. For me, I made about two servings right off the bat, which was approximately one smallish-medium yellow squash.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Recipe adapted from </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://blackjackbakehouse.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/zucchini-parmesan-crisps/">blackjack bakehouse</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span>
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<br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_L4lSPEIVmI/TkGN0JgKUqI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/Rb4E0gYcdt8/s1600/squashcrisps3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_L4lSPEIVmI/TkGN0JgKUqI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/Rb4E0gYcdt8/s400/squashcrisps3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638944135488098978" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Summer Squash Parmesan Crisps</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1-2 medium yellow squash or zucchini</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded or grated</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">a couple pinches of salt</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">pepper to taste</span>
<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with tin foil and brush with a little olive oil or spray with vegetable/canola oil.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Slice squash into 1/4" thick slices and toss with olive oil in a medium-sized bowl, coating thoroughly.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In another small, shallow bowl, combine parmesan, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Coat the squash in the breadcrumb-parmesan mixture, pressing into the squash a little bit so that it sticks. They don't need to be completely coated.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Place the coated squash on the pan and then sprinkle the remaining breadcrumb-parmesan mix on top of the disks of squash for a crunchy, cheesy topping.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown, let cool just a little bit, and eat them straight away.</span>
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<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Serves 1-2.</span>
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<br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KgY9LzzrfCg/TkGNz8aob_I/AAAAAAAAA1Q/vbwOhMHxLJM/s1600/squashcrisps2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KgY9LzzrfCg/TkGNz8aob_I/AAAAAAAAA1Q/vbwOhMHxLJM/s400/squashcrisps2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638944131975245810" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mchdwD6c2h0/TkGNzU-eJiI/AAAAAAAAA1I/cD--4EbeA_Y/s1600/squashcrisps1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mchdwD6c2h0/TkGNzU-eJiI/AAAAAAAAA1I/cD--4EbeA_Y/s400/squashcrisps1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638944121388148258" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;">
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<br />Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-58051815710601289902011-08-07T12:16:00.008-05:002011-08-07T12:44:12.953-05:00Iowa.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Last night I pulled in after a whirlwind road trip to Iowa City, IA. The goal was visit </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.homeecworkshop.com/">this place</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, which was rad. We spent about an hour and a half there yesterday so that we could basically interrogate one of the owners (super, super nice girl) about her business and how they make it work. It's a craft supply store/workshop for sewers/knitters/printers/more. It's a pretty sweet idea, and they have a great setup there.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">But I'm getting ahead of myself.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">We took our time getting there... a six hour drive turned into closer to nine hours. We took all the scenic routes, only jumping on the freeways for short distances to catch up on time a little bit. Once we got down into the southwestern corner of Wisconsin, the drive became much more interesting. I used to drive around west of Madison in my spare time when I lived there, taking my camera with me down small country roads that curve around bluffs and hills in that area. This time, we went through Mineral Point to check out the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://pendarvis.wisconsinhistory.org/">Pendarvis Cornish Restoration</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> site, which mom and I had both driven by before on separate occasions, but this time we stopped and did a self-guided tour.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm a sucker for historical sites.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TH-Mr_GPZ0k/Tj7LpM5hLdI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/Ug0ts5GF2-A/s1600/pendarvis2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TH-Mr_GPZ0k/Tj7LpM5hLdI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/Ug0ts5GF2-A/s400/pendarvis2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638167692211989970" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0z9R6YVD8YI/Tj7LpZ0ukvI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/cg9reWgzGrA/s1600/pendarvis6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0z9R6YVD8YI/Tj7LpZ0ukvI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/cg9reWgzGrA/s400/pendarvis6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638167695681557234" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was quiet there that day, so we had the place mostly to ourselves. The woman at the gift shop was entertaining to talk to, and we left with Cornish saffron cake, old-fashioned sodas, and a recipe card for making not only the saffron cake, but Cornish pasties. Yummy. Can't wait for that!</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPHQI2YchZc/Tj7MBDLlNUI/AAAAAAAAA0g/VHxya9wUI7o/s1600/pendarvis4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wPHQI2YchZc/Tj7MBDLlNUI/AAAAAAAAA0g/VHxya9wUI7o/s400/pendarvis4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638168101920257346" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">We worked our way down toward the very northwestern corner of Illinois, where we stumbled upon </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.visitgalena.org/?gclid=CIzZqb7bvaoCFUTBKgod5WOn4w">Galena</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, another historic treasure that I didn't expect. We drove around in some of the neighborhoods where some pretty impressive old brick houses stood in good form, and then we walked around in the (touristy, but cute) downtown. We stopped into a couple vintage shops and a nice little yarn shop.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ir8ijoPtRy4/Tj7M2IZPSxI/AAAAAAAAA0o/Oqt3bzCo7v0/s1600/galena1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ir8ijoPtRy4/Tj7M2IZPSxI/AAAAAAAAA0o/Oqt3bzCo7v0/s400/galena1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638169013852785426" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was mostly impressed by the architecture, which is usually what draws me to these places. I wouldn't mind heading back there sometime to spend a little more time.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-889tt0nWa40/Tj7M2swU0nI/AAAAAAAAA0w/FSvKH38Y8is/s1600/galena2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-889tt0nWa40/Tj7M2swU0nI/AAAAAAAAA0w/FSvKH38Y8is/s400/galena2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638169023613293170" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">And to add to the other historical sites visited that day, we saw U.S. Grant's house, too. ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">We kept driving on into Iowa, which was gorgeous in its midwestern way. It's high corn season, so the fields were full -- and a little unnervingly big when feeling a little lost in the country. The last time I was through Iowa was on I-80 en route to the west coast in 2003, so it's been a long time, and it was pleasant to be able to take it easy and drive the scenice Mississippi bluff scene routes.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was pleasantly surprised by Iowa City. I'm thinking a lot of it had to do with the University of Iowa, which has an obvious presence there, even in the summertime. We had gelato at a total college-type coffee/ice cream place called </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.capannacoffee.com/">Capanna</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> (it was made all the more college-y because it was connected to a) a library, and b) a pizza place. Anyway, it was great. We stayed at the Sheraton downtown.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I have to say, I want to purchase all of Sheraton's furnishings. And not limited just to the bed, coverings, and desk chair, but this bathroom sink stand also:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VlWLlj9NoEQ/Tj7KHi14llI/AAAAAAAAA0I/8QBvaZ6QaJA/s1600/iowa5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VlWLlj9NoEQ/Tj7KHi14llI/AAAAAAAAA0I/8QBvaZ6QaJA/s400/iowa5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638166014475146834" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's pretty much the one thing on the Sheraton at Home shopping site that you can't purchase. Ha!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The drive home on Saturday was even longer, but I wouldn't have traded the curvy, scenic route we took for a quicker journey. </span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DIvh0GMLtwk/Tj7OhzfV6iI/AAAAAAAAA1A/m92vew76lUo/s1600/iowa2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DIvh0GMLtwk/Tj7OhzfV6iI/AAAAAAAAA1A/m92vew76lUo/s400/iowa2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638170863667112482" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">We stopped a few times to take in views and grab snacks, but mostly we enjoyed the view from the car and arrived back home around 9:30. A long day, but a fantastic little road trip. And as always, it was good to be home. :)</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-7676745627698239792011-08-04T18:30:00.002-05:002011-08-04T18:46:09.921-05:00Cleaning house.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Is there really anything like the particular feeling of accomplishment that comes from cleaning one's house? My apartment goes through varies phases of unkemptness -- especially, as any pet owner can attest, with two animals that shed crazily this time of year. Sometimes I consider all the chinchilla fur I'm vacuuming up and I wonder how it's physically possible a chinchilla can even </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;">have </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">that much fur. Add cat fur to the mix and I have to vacuum almost every day. Sad. Those pet roller things are my best friend, although to cut down on the waste they inevitably produce, I've repurposed an old bristle hairbrush for some of the fur-getting. Soo... I spent the afternoon, once I was out of work, tidying up, and I feel so much more at ease in an apartment that is clean and neat. There's just no underestimating what it's like to climb into a freshly-made bed, or sit at a kitchen table that isn't cluttered with work schedules, library books and mail.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anyway. It's been a long few days, but I've got the next two off and I'm headed to Iowa. What is in Iowa? </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.homeecworkshop.com/">This place.</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> In Iowa City. Mom and I are going on a road trip to visit it. And we'll probably stop places along the way that strike our interest. What can we do with a 12 hour round-trip drive to the mid-midwest in two days? We'll just have to wait and see...<br /><br />And yes, South Korea is still happening! </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At least I'm working toward it happening. I've got a phone interview scheduled with a recruiter in the beginning of next week, so I have plenty to read about and prepare for. Can't wait to get that out of the way and move on to what's next!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Foodie, foodie: I've got some kale (I'm not a huge fan of kale, but I might try to make some pesto) and some yellow summer squash, so I'll figure something to do with those next!</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-66591720311595887002011-08-01T12:47:00.006-05:002011-08-01T13:24:14.309-05:00Cherry pie II.<span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IWZJbrD4sUk/TjbtTfNSF3I/AAAAAAAAAz4/Tzu4Oi7KQ0Q/s1600/cherrypie8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IWZJbrD4sUk/TjbtTfNSF3I/AAAAAAAAAz4/Tzu4Oi7KQ0Q/s400/cherrypie8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952902751262578" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef8wnJNEBsM/TjbtTJImnXI/AAAAAAAAAzw/eY27UGocF_M/s1600/cherrypie7.jpg"><br /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">It's cherry season, so I couldn't resist a pie-- even though my very first entry for this blog was a cherry pie. One cannot have too many cherry pies! The one I made first was a "light" version, ie. a much less buttery crust. I went all-out on this pie. Fresh cherries instead of filling, and a from-scratch basic butter pie crust.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">So here goes yumthing...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The key to a really good berry pie lies in fresh berries. Right now, height of summer, blueberries and cherries are the key to excellence. ;) This pie could JUST as easily be done with blueberries (I made one last year).</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6BZqw8jCKRk/TjbtS35EzLI/AAAAAAAAAzo/NsaLs7Z0poE/s1600/cherrypie6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6BZqw8jCKRk/TjbtS35EzLI/AAAAAAAAAzo/NsaLs7Z0poE/s400/cherrypie6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952892197522610" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And if you have fresh berries, you need something to hold them all together. Here's where the magic ingredient of pie filling comes in: cornstarch.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5HZnTO4r7vg/TjbtDgmN85I/AAAAAAAAAzA/HSSUi_cjf7Q/s1600/cherrypie1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5HZnTO4r7vg/TjbtDgmN85I/AAAAAAAAAzA/HSSUi_cjf7Q/s400/cherrypie1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952628246377362" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4FDNEVrStv8/TjbtE2YQ2gI/AAAAAAAAAzg/_sEqSOdqBQo/s1600/cherrypie5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4FDNEVrStv8/TjbtE2YQ2gI/AAAAAAAAAzg/_sEqSOdqBQo/s400/cherrypie5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952651273296386" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And then the crust, which can be daunting, if only because it seems so simple and yet can go so easily wrong. Simple ingredients, simple instructions, not a problem.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VeYelUBnUcg/TjbtD5uGh6I/AAAAAAAAAzI/Q3y4WtyPX5E/s1600/cherrypie2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VeYelUBnUcg/TjbtD5uGh6I/AAAAAAAAAzI/Q3y4WtyPX5E/s400/cherrypie2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952634990331810" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2cn1inwaOFw/TjbtEeJkpbI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/lNsQ7bsTwdM/s1600/cherrypie3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2cn1inwaOFw/TjbtEeJkpbI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/lNsQ7bsTwdM/s400/cherrypie3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952644769228210" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LEZO-P8M2Y8/TjbtEkLSMPI/AAAAAAAAAzY/Ow9GvduboFM/s1600/cherrypie4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LEZO-P8M2Y8/TjbtEkLSMPI/AAAAAAAAAzY/Ow9GvduboFM/s400/cherrypie4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952646387020018" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cherry pie a la Kate.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Serves ~8, 9" pie pan</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">For the crust (makes enough for top and bottom):</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 tablespoon granulated sugar</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 teaspoon salt</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2 sticks of cold butter</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/2 - 3/4 cup ice water</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">For the filling:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">5 or 6 cups pitted fresh tart cherries, drained</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2/3 cup granulated sugar</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">3 tablespoons cornstarch</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">3 tablespoons water</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Making the crust (make ahead up to two days, but at least an hour or two):</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In a large shallow bowl, mix flour, sugar and salt. Cut up the butter into pieces and use a pastry cutter to break and mix the butter into the flour mixture. Combine until the butter pieces are mixed in and small, but they don't need to be consistent. The key to the flakiness of the crust lies in the butter being coated (not completely mixed to a pulp) with the flour. Add the ice water (no cubes) 1/4 cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon or your hands to start putting the dough together. Sprinkle a few drops of water as needed, but don't make the dough too wet. Knead it briefly until it forms one large ball of dough. It should be moist and pliable, not overly mushy. Separate the dough into two equal balls and wrap each one individually in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour -- three is better, at least -- before rolling.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Making the filling:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In a small saucepan on low heat, bring 1 cup of cherries and the granulated sugar to a boil, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. Meanwhile, pour the rest of the cherries into a large bowl. In another small bowl, combine the cornstarch and the water until smooth.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Once the cherries in the saucepan come to a boil, whisk about 1/3 of the cherry mixture into the cornstarch bowl and stir. Replace the saucepan on the stove and return to a boil. Once mixture is boiling, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Stir the mixture over low heat until it becomes syrupy and thick -- this can take a little while, have patience! Scrape this thick cherry syrup from the saucepan over the top of the cherries in the large bowl, and fold in.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Putting the pie together:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack at the lowest level.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place each piece on a floured surface, lightly flouring the top as well. Roll out to make a circle 11" or so in diameter. Place it in the bottom of the pie pan and press lightly to make sure it fits firmly. Pour the filling into the pie shell, spreading evenly. Place the second layer of rolled dough over the top of the pie (if you like, you can cut the dough for the top into strips and weave them to make a proper design) and press around the edges with your fingers to connect the bottom and the top layers of dough and to make sure there is no excess hanging off the sides. Trim with a paring knife if necessary.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Poke a few holes with a fork in the top of the pie and bake for a total of 50 minutes. If after about 40 minutes the top of the pie has not started to become golden, move the rack to the top of the oven for the last ten minutes or so to brown.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature -- great with ice cream or whip. ;) Or plain! The crust is so good you don't need any accompaniment.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8gMT7PuS7M/TjbtTk-uRGI/AAAAAAAAA0A/aYKHDZAyWI0/s1600/cherrypie9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8gMT7PuS7M/TjbtTk-uRGI/AAAAAAAAA0A/aYKHDZAyWI0/s400/cherrypie9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952904300807266" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Et voila! :D</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef8wnJNEBsM/TjbtTJImnXI/AAAAAAAAAzw/eY27UGocF_M/s1600/cherrypie7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ef8wnJNEBsM/TjbtTJImnXI/AAAAAAAAAzw/eY27UGocF_M/s400/cherrypie7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635952896826056050" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Soundtrack to this baking adventure: The Decemberists' </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >Picaresque</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-42049884494035195132011-07-31T12:12:00.005-05:002011-07-31T12:20:41.802-05:00Cherry chicken.<span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TwhAS7mwVVo/TjWOMn-7mEI/AAAAAAAAAy4/V_SXNLv8gek/s1600/cherrychicken.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 297px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TwhAS7mwVVo/TjWOMn-7mEI/AAAAAAAAAy4/V_SXNLv8gek/s400/cherrychicken.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5635566856266553410" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This is just worth mentioning because it's super yummy, even though it's not exactly a </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >recipe</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">. At the grocery store the other day, on a whim, I bought chicken breast that had been seasoned with a Door County cherry rub. Normally, I don't buy pre-seasoned things, and I'll admit that I thought it was a little bit salty. But, hey, not everything can be perfect, right? I did like a little bit of salt with the sweet/tart taste of the cherries, but not too much.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Anyway, my favorite way to have chicken breast is to pan-fry on medium heat so that it cooks kind of slowly and stays really, really juicy inside. Then, since I have a big bowl of tart cherries sitting here waiting to be put into a pie, I decided to sprinkle some over the chicken. No sauce required -- these little cherries are usually pretty juicy, so they're good to kind of mash up a little bit and spread on the chicken.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Anyway. It was delicious. I had to share. :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">***</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I was going to go blueberry picking today, but plans fell through -- it is also HOT OUT THERE. Although the heat is not going to keep me from heading over to the local annual art fair, where my dad is displaying his paintings again this year. Going to art shows always brings me back to teenage summers when I used to accompany my dad to art fairs around the state and the midwest -- the most fun were always the furthest away. ;)</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-65074958964533089352011-07-29T17:48:00.005-05:002011-07-29T18:21:52.838-05:00Back on track.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, where have I been the last week?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Where haven't I been?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Well, blogging. (Sorry!) :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">But here I am! It's Friday, it's a gorgeous, warm, end-of-July day and I'm listening to James Newton Howard's original score for the film The Village, and loving this afternoon. In fact, the last few days have been simply lovely.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">It starts with friends, and goes on with family, and even further with the prospect of new and exciting things to come. As I mentioned, South Korea is definitely on the docket. I've been putting in my resume where I can, and keeping my eye out for positions once they start opening up for February. I'm in no position to go on any emergency-hire expediency-required last-minute escapes to the other side of the globe, but I'm hoping not to wait longer than February. Until then, there's plenty of other applications, interviews, and paperwork to do before any packing/moving/traveling happens. Of course, updates galore to come where all that's concerned! Right now, it's a waiting game and not much more.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Over the past couple of weeks, I've had some really good times with some of my greatest friends. One really fantastic friend is working his last day at the bookstore </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >tomorrow</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">, so it has been bittersweet lately. It's so hard to see people go that I get along with so well -- it makes such a huge impact on daily goings-on, even (especially?) at work when you are with them many hours every day, every week. It's interesting to, for once, experience the feeling of being <span style="font-style: italic;">left. </span>Historically, I never stuck around any one place as long as I've been here again, and I became accustomed to being the one who gave everyone else the news that I was leaving. I was the leaver, always. Now... I'm being left. It's an interesting sensation to finally catch up with how that feels on the other end.<br /><br />The beauty of distance is the ability to communicate through letters.<br /><br />Earlier on in the week, I got my hands on my first real cataloging project at the museum, which entailed a collection of 1940s dental hygiene and food values posters. Weird! But really funky -- and kind of disturbing in a going-to-the-dentist-makes-me-cringe sort of way. So the culmination of all of my "training" there has come down to this one first all-me project that includes cleaning, writing up condition reports and informational worksheets, photographing, and entering data into the computerized database. It's all very nice, actually. I'm convinced I couldn't do this sort of solitary work full time, but it's nice to have a chunk of time on Monday mornings to put toward something like this. And the whole point of the museum volunteering stint was to figure out if I loved it anyway, so... question answered. ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anyway. Yesterday, my mom, sister and grandmother drove the couple hours northeast to Door County to check out an antique store. However, due to:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VIur6GcT5YA/TjM8YNOTYoI/AAAAAAAAAyo/MOJD8hUe3oU/s1600/DSC02262.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VIur6GcT5YA/TjM8YNOTYoI/AAAAAAAAAyo/MOJD8hUe3oU/s400/DSC02262.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634913945334801026" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">...I was running on fumes and could hardly stay awake for more than ten consecutive minutes in the car, or walking around an antique mall, for that matter. I had my camera with me, but was in no mood to be much of an imagist. Possibly, the one benefit of being terribly hungover and running on literally a half hour of sleep (at 8am), was that absolutely nothing was interesting enough to want to buy. However, I came away with <span style="font-style: italic;">some </span>spoils! They were one major reason for going in the first place. Little red glories, that Door County is famous for:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--eUpf5kEKdU/TjM9CLuPISI/AAAAAAAAAyw/UeGDVr8o_yo/s1600/cherries.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--eUpf5kEKdU/TjM9CLuPISI/AAAAAAAAAyw/UeGDVr8o_yo/s400/cherries.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634914666486374690" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Both sweet and tart cherries, the tart ones are best for pie, which I'll make soon. And the sweet ones are just for snacking, or adding to the pie for extra filler. So excited! So yummy.<br /><br />We had lunch at a little place in Sister Bay, WI called the <a href="http://missiongrille.com/">Mission Grille</a> where I had a grilled cheese with tomato and pesto. I've been there once before and it's been delicious both times. It was a beautiful day to be by the lake yesterday.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Tonight, a ladies' night ensues for a majority of the girls at the bookstore. One of them is leaving us very soon to go back to college, so we're out to a local Irish pub for some yummy ale... or whatever. ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Happy summer! We're in the thick of it now.</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-30209970130667687002011-07-24T18:03:00.003-05:002011-07-24T18:10:47.425-05:0025th Annual Best Friends Gourmet Bike Tour<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">We (mom and I) were probably 75% sure we weren't going to go biking today, because the weather was supposed to be really crappy. Isolated thunderstorms and humidity... ick. But then it turned out to be a lovely morning, and we geared up and went after all. 25 miles through rural Wisconsin for the 25th annual Best Friends Gourmet Bike Tour, which benefits the Best Friends mentoring organization. We did it last year, too, but we definitely made better time this year, even though it was hot. The sun and heat wiped us right out!</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7STVny6dJJE/TiylyK8QeAI/AAAAAAAAAyg/NuGegU12DwE/s1600/bike4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7STVny6dJJE/TiylyK8QeAI/AAAAAAAAAyg/NuGegU12DwE/s400/bike4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633059515282782210" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Check out my newly-taped handlebars. I love the red. ;)</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncwELFEGtHw/TiylxohsVVI/AAAAAAAAAyY/S2yfJnuWt4w/s1600/bike3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ncwELFEGtHw/TiylxohsVVI/AAAAAAAAAyY/S2yfJnuWt4w/s400/bike3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633059506044556626" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">We're really glad we went. And of course, it's always great to look forward to a big meal afterwards!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">And on the topic of food, I had my very first ripe tomato to pluck today:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Flly-QUBI5c/TiylwxUCEWI/AAAAAAAAAyI/iDsRNff9tsU/s1600/bike1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Flly-QUBI5c/TiylwxUCEWI/AAAAAAAAAyI/iDsRNff9tsU/s400/bike1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633059491223310690" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The flesh was sweet, but the seeds were a little sour. This might be a good sauce tomato. A bunch more are about to turn, so I'd better start preparing some good tomato recipes! ;D</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CBQA3qK5JlY/TiylxAsNbPI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/5388Xb_f-Fo/s1600/bike2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CBQA3qK5JlY/TiylxAsNbPI/AAAAAAAAAyQ/5388Xb_f-Fo/s400/bike2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633059495351250162" border="0" /></a>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-45342248560207377232011-07-21T17:13:00.007-05:002011-07-21T17:41:54.933-05:00Desperate snack solution: crêpes!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wW27MHHq8x4/TiiprWnuvBI/AAAAAAAAAyA/jpZdJgk83T0/s1600/crepes6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wW27MHHq8x4/TiiprWnuvBI/AAAAAAAAAyA/jpZdJgk83T0/s400/crepes6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631937896298494994" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I'll never get over the wonder that are crepes. Seriously, I think they're amazing. One of those beautifully simple throw-it-together recipes that is so versatile, it can be used for a meal, snack, or dessert, depending on what's put with it. They're thin, dense little pancakes, perfect with just about anything! My favorite, and the one I'll share, is with the famous chocolate-hazelnut spread, </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.nutellausa.com/">Nutella</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7aqhKAVS6c/TiiphWh3qhI/AAAAAAAAAxw/p2vRlRWdnfA/s1600/crepes4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-u7aqhKAVS6c/TiiphWh3qhI/AAAAAAAAAxw/p2vRlRWdnfA/s400/crepes4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631937724475222546" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMPTB9YmmIs/Tiipgl5T4aI/AAAAAAAAAxY/djJf1FOaT7Y/s1600/crepes1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AMPTB9YmmIs/Tiipgl5T4aI/AAAAAAAAAxY/djJf1FOaT7Y/s400/crepes1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631937711420203426" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Good old flour and eggs, I love you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And it's more exciting for me because I just bought a new blender and this is the first time I've used it!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hooray!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Crepes...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I've tried a few variations of the same recipe, the main difference being whether to use oil or butter, and whether or not there is water. It turns out that I like this version the best, which, as are most of the things I end up with, composites of recipes I've used in the past. Because this one uses butter, it's a little richer, and browns beautifully in the pan. Either make them all at once (they should be served hot) or make one or two and then refrigerate the batter, covered, for up to 24 hours.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1YA7dedYnjs/Tiipg5uevwI/AAAAAAAAAxg/4xCBUZDgmj4/s1600/crepes2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1YA7dedYnjs/Tiipg5uevwI/AAAAAAAAAxg/4xCBUZDgmj4/s400/crepes2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631937716743487234" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UVqNvtez1BM/TiiphFuJwBI/AAAAAAAAAxo/1UO9JDeiyyU/s1600/crepes3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UVqNvtez1BM/TiiphFuJwBI/AAAAAAAAAxo/1UO9JDeiyyU/s400/crepes3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631937719963336722" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">All you need is a blender and a frying pan.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Makes 4.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 cup all-purpose flour</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2 eggs</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/2 cup milk</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/2 cup water</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2 tablespoons butter, melted</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">a pinch of salt</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">vegetable or canola oil for the pan -- not too much; the crepes will swim in oil, otherwise.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In a blender, combine flour, eggs, milk, water, and salt. Add butter and continue to blend until combined and smooth. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, brush with vegetable oil, and make sure it's good and hot. Pour about 1/4 of the batter into the pan and swirl the pan a bit to coat the bottom with the batter. Let the crepe sit for about 2 - 3 minutes or until golden brown, and then flip and do the same to the other side. Serve hot, filled with favorite filling -- Nutella, jam, fruit, eggs, veggies, you name it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It's like a blank canvas. ;)</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KwDRtlO3f4M/TiiprAPk3zI/AAAAAAAAAx4/dR5j6NlR3_E/s1600/crepes5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KwDRtlO3f4M/TiiprAPk3zI/AAAAAAAAAx4/dR5j6NlR3_E/s400/crepes5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631937890291605298" border="0" /></a></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-19355738716704640642011-07-19T11:47:00.004-05:002011-07-19T12:14:33.187-05:00Word's out: South Korea.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I'm no good at keeping exciting things to myself. Every time, I tell myself to just shut up (for once!) and wait to say something when things are more certain, but I can't help myself. I just have to share! It is a fault. ...I inadvertently let it slip to a coworker that I was thinking about pursuing something new. All it took was a sarcastic laugh in response to "You're going to be leaving next!" ...and the cat was out of the bag. Of course I had to tell my boss to make sure he didn't hear it through the grapevine, even though nothing is certain, and hardly even begun, and then everyone else inevitably found out some way or another. What am I doing? --or, I should say, what am I going to try to do?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Teaching English as a foreign language in South Korea!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I found myself at the local public library last week, trying in vain to find an adult nonfiction book or guide to South Korea -- or even just Korea -- that wasn't primarily about the Korean War. No such luck. So I left with a handful of children's geography books, which, as it turns out, where perfect for what I was after -- a basic overview (with pictures!) of South Korea.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I've typed up a resume and I'm beginning to search for positions in South Korea, probably Seoul, but possibly elsewhere. It seems to have come on suddenly, but the truth is that it's something that's crossed my mind occasionally for years -- I've been acquainted with a few people who have taught, or know people who have taught, and although I thought it was pretty cool and exciting, I never really thought it was for me.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jZJZhBGwSGc/TiW4ydNtpeI/AAAAAAAAAxE/KxNh0Gzi3wY/s1600/skorea.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jZJZhBGwSGc/TiW4ydNtpeI/AAAAAAAAAxE/KxNh0Gzi3wY/s400/skorea.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631110086071789026" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">After talking it over with one friend, and hearing tales of others who have had good experiences and had advice to impart, I pretty much decided that there were fewer reasons not to do it than to just go ahead with it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So there's obviously a lot more where this came from. I'm diligently researching the country and the programs/education system there, and there's a lot to learn. Of course, there's no guarantee that I get a job, but I think my chances are good. And if all goes accordingly, I'd be en route to eastern Asia probably in February sometime for the beginning of their school year in the spring.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, barring any unforeseen hangups or other opportunities... there's a big adventure ahead. :)</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-50361491196569581392011-07-15T16:50:00.009-05:002011-07-15T19:51:50.318-05:00Take-two tiramisu.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I did it! I did it!<br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uWICdV7cTJk/TiDgVct8VDI/AAAAAAAAAwM/xxUTgpYq-5M/s1600/tira11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uWICdV7cTJk/TiDgVct8VDI/AAAAAAAAAwM/xxUTgpYq-5M/s400/tira11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629746193303884850" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />It took me a while to round up the ingredients again. I'm constantly weighing in mind the benefits of organic/humane food and the monetary cost (which on my budget is sometimes near-impossible), and tiramisu is not something to take lightly... six eggs, mascarpone (prices vary wildly for some reason) and ladyfingers...<br /><br />Anyway. I had purchased all the ingredients except the mascarpone the other day because an 8oz. container was </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >four dollars</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">!! So I waited until I was across town to stop into another grocery store where I knew the same exact product was only $2.29. Because I needed two, I couldn't justify paying practically double. No way.<br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wZk3XefgJhg/TiC649YEyGI/AAAAAAAAAuo/WuJhsaU7Tag/s1600/tira8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wZk3XefgJhg/TiC649YEyGI/AAAAAAAAAuo/WuJhsaU7Tag/s400/tira8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629705021924100194" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4LuatbecaX0/TiC65FoS__I/AAAAAAAAAuw/40wtiq5arUg/s1600/tira9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4LuatbecaX0/TiC65FoS__I/AAAAAAAAAuw/40wtiq5arUg/s400/tira9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629705024139624434" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Ladyfingers can be hard to find -- at least the ones that are necessary for this recipe. They need to be the dry, sugary ones as opposed to the refrigerated moist ones. I tried that kind once, and they ended up getting soggy and breaking apart because they were already moist. The brand I usually find around here, if the store carries them, is </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Alessi-Savoiardi-Fingers-7-Ounce-Packages/dp/B000FDLBQO">Alessi</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.<br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0zKIFkAkuLA/TiC6Qm4oTTI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/HWZqmSEF-pA/s1600/tira3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0zKIFkAkuLA/TiC6Qm4oTTI/AAAAAAAAAuQ/HWZqmSEF-pA/s400/tira3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629704328691862834" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Because they get dipped in coffee, they have to be pretty dry to start. And then they get arranged and poured over with the mascarpone mixture.<br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FYpUzDB3nNc/TiC47WhoJYI/AAAAAAAAAtw/y7JMEV_46tk/s1600/tira2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FYpUzDB3nNc/TiC47WhoJYI/AAAAAAAAAtw/y7JMEV_46tk/s400/tira2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629702864011535746" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mZ-9cuF_bZE/TiC46_nAOuI/AAAAAAAAAto/speiRMrpdVc/s1600/tira1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mZ-9cuF_bZE/TiC46_nAOuI/AAAAAAAAAto/speiRMrpdVc/s400/tira1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629702857860070114" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;">And then there's the coffee. Yum, coffee.<br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ywbkobvmbks/TiC48htfAcI/AAAAAAAAAuI/nOrIlADdFAc/s1600/tira5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ywbkobvmbks/TiC48htfAcI/AAAAAAAAAuI/nOrIlADdFAc/s400/tira5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629702884193927618" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;">I use a French press for the coffee -- it's quick and I can make however much I want. I used </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://alterracoffee.com/">Alterra Coffee Roaster</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">'s Black Earth dark roast (yum!) ...and I would like to take this opportunity to share how cute my little tin coffee canister is! I found this and a matching flour one (missing the sugar and tea, unfortunately) at a thrift shop in Park Falls, WI a couple of years ago... It's darling, and so retro.<br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1NlGGOTXMsY/TiC48bu65fI/AAAAAAAAAuA/En-52Td-lxc/s1600/tira4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1NlGGOTXMsY/TiC48bu65fI/AAAAAAAAAuA/En-52Td-lxc/s400/tira4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629702882589337074" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Citrus makes a big difference -- it adds a brightness to the whole thing. And better to use a fresh orange than orange juice from a carton; it's lighter and usually a little sweeter.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka9MfPwU3Q0/TiC64hZgfoI/AAAAAAAAAug/uFx8Vs3IsvQ/s1600/tira7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ka9MfPwU3Q0/TiC64hZgfoI/AAAAAAAAAug/uFx8Vs3IsvQ/s400/tira7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629705014413917826" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">Finally, all the ingredients on hand today, I put a tiramisu together which rivals any I've made thus far. I paid close-close-close attention to the egg-sugar-mascarpone mixing, because, need I remind you, it was a massive, massive failure </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://kmothes.blogspot.com/2011/07/when-disaster-strikes-tiramisu.html">last time</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">.<br /><br /><br /></span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tRFdxp7M37o/TiC64c1xQcI/AAAAAAAAAuY/5L5-xziwH6Y/s1600/tira6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tRFdxp7M37o/TiC64c1xQcI/AAAAAAAAAuY/5L5-xziwH6Y/s400/tira6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629705013190279618" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Also, I remedied the soppy ladyfingers by dipping them very, very swiftly in the coffee and not allowing nearly as much to soak into the cookies. That made a huge difference.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">So. Here's the love. Just keep in mind: there is no baking involved, and these egg yolks are raw. Tiramisu isn't really tiramisu without the raw eggs. ;)<br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tQqnKmoiFiE/TiDgVkGN18I/AAAAAAAAAwU/8MfB3EJg-mE/s1600/tira12.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tQqnKmoiFiE/TiDgVkGN18I/AAAAAAAAAwU/8MfB3EJg-mE/s400/tira12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629746195284744130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-family:verdana;" ><br /><br />Tiramisu</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />1-2 cups espresso/strong coffee</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2 tablespoons rum or vanilla rum, divided</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/2 cup granulated sugar</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />6 large egg yolks at room temperature</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">16oz. mascarpone (2 containers)</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />1/4 cup orange juice, divided (1 fresh orange)</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">24+ ladyfingers (one single package is 24, but a few extra are nice)<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">shaved semi-sweet chocolate for garnish</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Beat egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high for about three to four minutes, or until thick and light yellow. Lower the speed to low and mix in the mascarpone until smooth. With mixer still on low, add 1 tablespoon of the rum and the vanilla. Stir until combined.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Pour coffee, the remaining rum, and the orange juice in a shallow bowl. Dip each ladyfinger quickly into the mixture, evenly coating with coffee, but not allowing the cookie to soak through. Arrange ladyfingers in the bottom of a pan (I used an 8.5x11x2" oval pan), and fill spaces with pieces. Pour half the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfinger layer and spread evenly. Add second layer of ladyfingers and mascarpone mixture.<br /><br />Smooth the top, cover, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Sprinkle the top with shaved chocolate and serve cold. Serves 6-8.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPI5QgOpXaI/TiDgU9x-9eI/AAAAAAAAAwE/bYvE56BT760/s1600/tira10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPI5QgOpXaI/TiDgU9x-9eI/AAAAAAAAAwE/bYvE56BT760/s400/tira10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629746184999335394" border="0" /></a>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-33442822161548341452011-07-15T13:14:00.005-05:002011-07-15T13:40:16.828-05:00Jelly slugs and no spoilers. ;)<span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >I don't really fall in the Harry Potter target age group, although I'm sure people of all ages would debate that there even <span style="font-style: italic;">is </span>a target age group. I read all the books, but not with any sort of rhythm or intense longing to read the next. But a lot of people I know did, and have gone through the years reading all the books and seeing all the movies religiously. I remember my little sister going from basic that's-pretty-cool enthusiasm to full-fledged waiting-outside-Barnes-and-Noble-at-midnight-for-the-new-book fandom. A younger cousin of mine spent his entire weekend vacation up north at the cottage reading the first book when it came out, unable to put it down for water sports or nerf gun fights -- that's kind of when I realized it was a big deal.<br /><br />For my little sister, her interest waned a little bit over the years. On the other hand, I work with a lovely lady who is the same age as my little sister, and is so fantastically in love with the series that she not only knows just about every trivia fact there is to know, she has not one, but </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >two</span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" > Harry Potter-inspired tattoos (and where those could easily have gone wrong, they are actually really great; one is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows, the other the last line of the last book).<br /><br />I thought the last film felt almost like a meditative reflection on the whole series. Granted, there's so much going on, so much to have to know for any of it to make any sense whatsoever -- but I think I appreciated this one the best of any. Of course I won't give anything away.<br /><br />My beautiful sister and I got "stylized" versions of Harry's glasses at a face-painting table that gave you a choice between the glasses or a lightning bolt. I'm sure I didn't see a single other person with glasses. ;)<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2JpfTXqKea0/TiCH3Kqhj8I/AAAAAAAAAtY/C_saIYT9VAo/s1600/harry2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2JpfTXqKea0/TiCH3Kqhj8I/AAAAAAAAAtY/C_saIYT9VAo/s400/harry2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629648916038389698" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />A couple girls I know are die-hard fans, so they had a movie marathon that spanned from 11am to around 8pm (I joined in around 6:30), when they packed up their laptop with the HP7P1 (the code, I learned), and took off to the theatre to save seats. 8:30pm and we were saving seats for a movie that began at 12:02am! That was a first for me... even for last year's midnight showing I didn't sit around quite that long.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZdSIwd6YaG0/TiCH3kPTejI/AAAAAAAAAtg/5UkD_zFSbsk/s1600/harry1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZdSIwd6YaG0/TiCH3kPTejI/AAAAAAAAAtg/5UkD_zFSbsk/s400/harry1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629648922903542322" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />It seemed a more subdued atmosphere this time. There were plenty of people in Hogwarts costumes, and a pretty impressive Voldemort running around. I even spotted a Whomping Willow. Last year, the place was like a pep rally -- everyone was dressed up, but the excitement was almost palpable. It was loud; kids were chanting and singing. There was a little bit of chanting this time, but nothing like last fall. And I wondered if it was due to the overbearing knowledge that this was the last of them all; it was the end.<br /><br />And it's funny how even me, the "relatively interested, I liked the books alright" kind of Harry Potter enthusiast, felt the real weight of The End upon its arrival. The phenomenon is so huge, it would feel like being left out if I weren't a part of it.</span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-19521877297025893632011-07-14T16:51:00.007-05:002011-07-14T17:12:48.942-05:00Apple-marinated pork chops.<span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4RjveY8WZZg/Th9pRcdGhWI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/8qIbFsEVp5s/s1600/pork1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4RjveY8WZZg/Th9pRcdGhWI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/8qIbFsEVp5s/s400/pork1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629333807653356898" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sooo, new cookbook? New recipes! A particularly good cookbook it is: </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Commonsense-Kitchen-Recipes-Lessons-Hand-Crafted/dp/081187222X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1310680408&amp;sr=8-1">The Commonsense Kitchen: 500 recipes + Lessons for a Handcrafted Life</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> by Tom Hudgens (Chronicle Books, 2010). A beautifully pictureless thick brick of a cookbook -- I LOVE IT! Bibliophile Friday just turned into Bibliophile-any-day-of-the-week-I-darn-well-please... And my first recipe attempt out of it was a huge success, so I am going to share it with you. !</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Apple-Marinated Pork Chops</span><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >adapted from The Commonsense Kitchen -- </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">prepare 1 day ahead, serves 3</span><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">3 center-cut pork chops, about 1-in thick, a little fat left on</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 teaspoon salt</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/2 flavorful apple (I used Gala), unpeeled, thinly sliced</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/4 small red onion (sweet, or go for yellow), thinly sliced</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 cup apple cider</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Rub the pork chops with salt and pepper. Place the apple slices over the top and the bottom surfaces of each chop, put the chops in a shallow bowl, and scatter the onion over them. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down on the surface of the chops, and refrigerate overnight.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Set them out at room temperature about an hour before cooking. Remove and reserve the apples and onions. Pat the chops dry with a paper towel.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Heat the olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heart and brown the chops for about 4 minutes on each side, or just until they feel firm when pressed with a finger (the ones I got were even thicker than an inch, so they took quite a bit longer. Just keep an eye, don't get impatient and turn the heat up). If they don't seem cooked, continue cooking for a few minutes more on lower heat. They are thoroughly cooked, but still juicy, when they have reached an internal temperature of 150 degrees F. Remove the chops to a clean plate.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Get the skillet heated back up on medium-high heat, and pour off any fat left in the skillet. Add the apples and onions and pour in the apple cider. Bring to a boil, scraping the browned, flavorful bits from the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon and letting them dissolve in the cider (I used a nonstick skillet and there wasn't much of this to be had). After everything has boiled for about a minute, strain out the apples and onions if desired -- but they're good in too! Boil until the liquid is reduced to a thin syrup, just a few tablespoons. Pour over the warm chops and serve.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGal5a5GDVk/Th9oF-v3cnI/AAAAAAAAAtI/gT026oU7Vm0/s1600/pork6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DGal5a5GDVk/Th9oF-v3cnI/AAAAAAAAAtI/gT026oU7Vm0/s400/pork6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629332511188808306" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I like to use the paper they wrap the meat in at the counter as a work surface. Rub in the salt and pepper; use a chopping board to cut up all the apples and onions.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fEYt5sg45Ec/Th9n-tuQfJI/AAAAAAAAAtA/fTmCpnPDMOQ/s1600/pork5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fEYt5sg45Ec/Th9n-tuQfJI/AAAAAAAAAtA/fTmCpnPDMOQ/s400/pork5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629332386359573650" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Layer thin slices of a sweet, crispy apple over the top and bottom surfaces... I chose a Gala apple because it's super sweet.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDaLmYWwNIg/Th9n-CUHefI/AAAAAAAAAs4/tjIdonqESjM/s1600/pork4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDaLmYWwNIg/Th9n-CUHefI/AAAAAAAAAs4/tjIdonqESjM/s400/pork4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629332374707206642" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >The Commonsense Kitchen </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">calls for yellow onions, but I'm a through-and-through red onion fan. I love how sweet they are, and I was looking for sweet pork chops. Plus, they're just nice to look at. ;)</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LXoClWdROPI/Th9n9uc4YgI/AAAAAAAAAsw/4b31dHwHlxY/s1600/pork3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LXoClWdROPI/Th9n9uc4YgI/AAAAAAAAAsw/4b31dHwHlxY/s400/pork3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629332369375257090" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Brown the pork chops in a pan -- these chops were really hefty, so they took a bit of time to cook, but the heat was low and they remained juicy inside.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fB7KvG_ZC6c/Th9n9UYwI7I/AAAAAAAAAso/AWsGKgHqkaI/s1600/pork2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fB7KvG_ZC6c/Th9n9UYwI7I/AAAAAAAAAso/AWsGKgHqkaI/s400/pork2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629332362378617778" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Boiling the apple cider with the apple and onion made a marvelous, thin syrup. I didn't want to throw any of the apple or onions out -- I thought it would be even better to pair with the pork than just the syrup alone. I wasn't disappointed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Yum-yummy. :D Enjoy!</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">...I'm off to the midnight showing of the very. last. Harry Potter movie. There are some pretty die-hard fans I'm going with -- Should be a fun (long..) night. Much to report, I'm sure. ;)</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-58200063427509481932011-07-13T19:45:00.010-05:002011-07-13T20:09:24.282-05:00Sunrise, 13 July 2011.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-58nIw6Mnk0g/Th5AI7qcbgI/AAAAAAAAAsY/4VzxuOXdodU/s1600/morning1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-58nIw6Mnk0g/Th5AI7qcbgI/AAAAAAAAAsY/4VzxuOXdodU/s400/morning1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5629007106458545666" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This morning's sunrise was lovely. And not that I actually watched the sun, but I witnessed the sky lighten and the cool evening air begin to warm. Sunrise has a magical quality in it that I've never been able to find in sunsets, and though it may be because I see sunrises so much less frequently, they never cease to put me in a place I am happy enough to be.<br /><br />This morning's was no exception; I wandered around one of my favorite neighborhoods in the area, where I've been known to go on my bike in the past to check out the unassuming yet well-to-do old houses along these narrow, winding streets with their awesomely imperfect landscaping -- so imperfect that it is perfect in every way. Some of the residents use the bit of lawn between the sidewalk and the street curb to plant vegetables -- numerous houses had gigantic tomato plants growing just off the street. Some of the flowers were just astounding in the dewy morning light, and everything felt bright and optimistic today. Some of the houses sported lackluster paint jobs while others were kept up extraordinarily well. Ancient coniferous trees hovered over some of the houses' petite matching garages and narrow driveways, and I wanted to crawl through all of their yards and the ravines behind and see what there was to find.<br /><br />Alas, that would have been trespassing. ;)<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I am sleepy, but today did me good.</span><br /></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-18844918850409891802011-07-12T20:51:00.003-05:002011-07-12T21:21:19.291-05:00All at once.<span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >I suppose, strictly, a sense of desperation propels us to do a lot of things we'd normally feel too comfortable in our current circumstances to do. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >I find this to be true of almost all the major decisions I've ever made -- mostly about moving somewhere or deciding what to study in college -- or where to go to college. Or where to work. </span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br />We <span style="font-style: italic;">want </span>to do things -- we want to build a house or travel to Spain or take up basket weaving... but we've just got so much other normal, everyday-life stuff going on that it gets pushed further and further down the road, and sometimes we never reach those places since we're too busy thinking that we're too busy to get there.<br /><br />When I was a teenager, I travelled with my dad a lot around the Great Lakes states, and occasionally further -- down to Oklahoma, the west coast -- to help him with art fairs that he used to do regularly in the summer. As a full-time painter, summers were big business for him then. Times have changed a bit and art festivals aren't what they once were, but those formative years of summer travel for me put an indelible mark on me, and how I perceived the world. I may not have jetted off to Europe or Asia as a kid, but I got to road trip around the U.S. and that was pretty awesome.<br /><br />What it did was give me a sense of space, a sense of distance, and a sense of where I was and what else the world had to offer. Because if San Francisco could be so exciting, then ultimately one could expect New York City, Paris, Moscow, Athens, Tokyo, or Sydney to excite the same sense of wonder and amazement.<br /><br />Ultimately, what happened, was when I graduated from high school, I applied to one college, and one college only, wayyyyy over on the northern coast of California, practically the western-most tip of the contiguous states. I thought a change of scenery and geography might be the key to erasing my boredom and taking the world by storm. Alas, I lasted one semester. It was far from boring, but for numerous reasons, financial not being the least of them, I was back home in Wisconsin. Aaaand miserable.<br /><br />So I struck out aaallll the way to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, which is merely an hour+ drive from home. There, I lived on campus for about a year, then studied abroad in London. And that trip changed my life. It changed the way I perceived not only Europe, and the world, but my home itself. And when I returned to Wisconsin, I was saddened to have left such an exciting city, but glad to have a newfound sense of <span style="font-style: italic;">home</span>, and a new understanding of myself and what I was capable of.<br /><br />I finished up school in Madison, WI with an art history degree, but was embittered with institutionalized education before I even had my degree in hand -- that a bachelors degree in art history was pretty much a pass to nowhere without a concrete career idea or a plan for further schooling -- which I just didn't have. I just wasn't sure. I <span style="font-style: italic;">liked </span>art history, but did I want to invest tens of thousands dollars more in order to, what, be a professor? a curator? a gallery owner? I just didn't -- and still don't -- have the answer to that. I was afraid of getting stuck on one path, and becoming obligated to continue on that path because I had invested such-and-such an amount of money on education. I'm no stranger to the pains of student loans.<br /><br />So I moved back home. And then lost my job, which at the time was at Starbucks during their company-wide closure of some 600+ shops. There again, I found myself in dire straits, living at my parents' house, a college graduate, without a job... wondering how I'd support myself. Would I move? Could I even afford to move? Where could I work? What could I do? What did I <span style="font-style: italic;">want </span>to do? That has always been a giant decision point -- I'd prefer to make a little less money and do something I actually enjoy vs. the alternative.<br /><br />Lo! I happened to find out that a used bookstore was opening up in the area and happened to be hiring, and I leapt on that boat so fast, I hardly saw it happen myself. And there I am, at the bookstore. Not necessarily my career of choice, and definitely not a place I ever envisioned working -- but who ever knows these things? It was sheer desperation that led me to it, and in the end, only good things came of it. Turned out that I loved it, and loved the people, and it worked for me.<br /><br />...for a while. Because my nature is such that after a couple years I get bored. And I get tired. It might be too early to call myself a spinster, but I'm 26 and I live alone in a tiny town in Wisconsin with my cat. And though I've got creative outlets and good friends, I've become too comfortable. Read: stagnant. It's become clear to me that this summer -- or this year at least -- has become the year to make a change. A change that is again my choice, and although I'm not totally certain what it will be, it will occur. And simply making the decision to <span style="font-style: italic;">make a decision</span> has the optimistic, adventurous side of me flaring right up. More than anything, perhaps I think that as the years pass, that side of me starts to quell, and that is the most frightening thing I can imagine.<br /><br />In the next few months, we'll see what comes about. They don't call this a quarter-life crisis for nothing!<br /></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-77338129323402394932011-07-10T18:46:00.006-05:002011-07-11T12:46:43.076-05:00When disaster strikes the tiramisu...<span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >...you still share on it on your blog. Ah, for shame, trying to hastily prepare something that should be put together with the utmost attention. I promise I'll share the recipe (a good one) when I get it down right next time. There are so many little persnickety things that can go wrong with tiramisu -- all those raw egg yolks, cheese, acidic citrus, and so on. Not to mention ladyfingers that either soak too much or not enough coffee and then you've either got mushy or crunchy tiramisu, and nobody wants that. :(<br /><br />This is what it should look like (mostly successful previous attempt):<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CN3lsCNB5oQ/Ths1PA-Jd9I/AAAAAAAAArM/o-WxUErxDR8/s1600/tiramisuold.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CN3lsCNB5oQ/Ths1PA-Jd9I/AAAAAAAAArM/o-WxUErxDR8/s400/tiramisuold.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628150691404543954" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />...and this is what the latest attempt actually looks like:<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zomxOgdUHqg/Ths15JYA5rI/AAAAAAAAArU/SCPcm78dAgg/s1600/tiramisubad.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zomxOgdUHqg/Ths15JYA5rI/AAAAAAAAArU/SCPcm78dAgg/s400/tiramisubad.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628151415215023794" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" ><br />BLUH. How does one manage to make a dessert that looks SO TERRIBLE? A curdled, soppy mess. It doesn't taste half bad, but it's nothing to be proud of. And I'm only sharing it because it should be well-known that tiramisu is not a dessert to be trifled with! ;)<br /><br />So... here's to getting a ton more eggs and mascarpone and hoping attempt number 2 works a little more in my favor. I'll make sure not to walk away from the mixer this time. For any reason whatsoever!<br /><br />Soundtrack to this dessert-making adventure: <a href="http://www.iamkloot.com/">I Am Kloot</a>'s album </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" >Sky at Night.</span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-33261708142480290682011-07-10T10:53:00.006-05:002011-07-10T11:08:21.588-05:00Midsummer blooms.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The other day I was watering my tomatoes, which are just ridiculously hard to please now that they're massive, and realized there are so. many. tomatoes!!! I realized that now that we're coming up on mid-July, my deck garden has really changed shape -- and size -- with all my work keeping everything healthy. The geraniums are full-bloom (I let them hibernate over the winter, and in the summer they get tall and lean, which is the way I like them -- wild-looking), the hosta just blossomed, and the tomatoes, like I mentioned, are well on their way to giving me too many tomatoes to know what to do with. So I decided to snap just a couple photos of le jardin. Just to feel happy about it. :D</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AmtIg1icPMI/ThnMYDUGo7I/AAAAAAAAAqk/4A3KJvz1P9A/s1600/jardin2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AmtIg1icPMI/ThnMYDUGo7I/AAAAAAAAAqk/4A3KJvz1P9A/s400/jardin2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627753922954699698" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Look at this monster!! One of the Black Pineapple variety -- the kind of tomato that I always think of when I think of the word 'heirloom.'</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pR7MWdqMGpo/ThnMtFTkWtI/AAAAAAAAAqs/-pKGKd9cqA0/s1600/jardin3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pR7MWdqMGpo/ThnMtFTkWtI/AAAAAAAAAqs/-pKGKd9cqA0/s400/jardin3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627754284266576594" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Dr. Wyche's Yellow... this is the plant that is going to give the most, I can tell. The third, Thai Pink Egg, has not produced anything yet. It was the weakest plant from the start, so we'll see if it's late, or if nothing will happen at all.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NcAv0P7BqSM/ThnM_ycYG8I/AAAAAAAAAq0/kFOQsB6ylyM/s1600/jardin1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NcAv0P7BqSM/ThnM_ycYG8I/AAAAAAAAAq0/kFOQsB6ylyM/s400/jardin1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627754605620763586" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The hosta blossom just sprang up the other day -- hosta flowers are never my favorite, but it's still gratifying to see them. This one is pretty healthy, although some of the leaves on the plant were a little burnt in the sun this summer. Otherwise, the plant likes it there, so I'll have to give it a little bit of shade for next year.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-efp2iExx7wg/ThnNV4x0RWI/AAAAAAAAAq8/DUA3NoJmjKQ/s1600/jardin4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-efp2iExx7wg/ThnNV4x0RWI/AAAAAAAAAq8/DUA3NoJmjKQ/s400/jardin4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627754985278424418" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-syjJBGNeA8o/ThnNdpRY5TI/AAAAAAAAArE/KnyUWOVyyJI/s1600/jardin5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-syjJBGNeA8o/ThnNdpRY5TI/AAAAAAAAArE/KnyUWOVyyJI/s400/jardin5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627755118554834226" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">And my very favorite mini success: the colander with a menagerie of succulents. Succulents are perfect for a container that is, by its very nature, filled with holes. Succulents in general are really hardy; they can stand not being watered, or even being in dirt, for a long time, and take root practically anywhere. The colander I filled with sandy dirt, and I wondered for a little while if these little guys were going to like it there, but they appear to be happy as can be. I've started a couple of others now, even one commissioned from my grandmother who liked the idea so much! I'm beginning to amass such a collection of unidentified succulents that I'm going to have to start doing some research. Regardless, </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_and_chicks">hens and chicks</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> remain one of my favorite kinds. ;)<br /><br />...and I'm on my way to the store this afternoon to pick up ingredients for one of my favorite desserts eveerrrrrrrrr... ;D<br /></span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-15473938247006483272011-07-08T09:16:00.005-05:002011-07-08T20:25:30.845-05:00MKE in five hours.<span style="font-size:85%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.summerfest.com/flash2011/1.cfm?codeString=home#app=250&amp;8b6e-selectedIndex=0&amp;71fe-selectedIndex=1">Summerfest</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, Wisconsin's major music festival in mid-summer, annually draws some of the best artists to its -- 12? -- stages. Every night for 11 days, a major headliner plays at Marcus Amphitheater and other artists are on other stages throughout the night, so one only hopes there aren't two bands playing at once that you'd like to see. In all the years it's been on, I've never once gone. Honestly, the crazy festival atmosphere always makes me a little tense. Crowds -- especially tightly packed ones -- are not generally my thing. But last night my sister and I made an exception to go see Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (their most popular song, "Home," </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://youtu.be/DHEOF_rcND8">here</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> although my favorites on their album <span style="font-style: italic;">Up from Below </span>are "Desert Song" and "Kisses Over Babylon"). There's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Sharpe_and_the_Magnetic_Zeros">a good story</a> about how this band came about.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">But first! --I worked until 4pm, so as soon as I could afterward, I picked Ali up and we drove the two hours to Milwaukee, getting pseudo-lost as usually happens when we try to navigate that city, and finally making it to my other sister Maddy's new apartment. It was a perfect evening... 67 degrees, clear and dry, and driving around the east side of town around dinner time was wonderful because everyone was sitting outside, enjoying the sunshine and all their company.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">We were looking for dinner before heading over to the Summerfest grounds, so we walked to </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://alterracoffee.com/">Alterra</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">, the local Milwaukee coffee shop of choice, but they were out of many of their daily food items, so we decided to go around the block to Ma Fischer's, one of those 24-hour fam-resties that serves the most food for your buck. I had a Super Duper Family Restaurant Moment when I decided to order one of the most heartily American things on the menu: chicken strips -- with ranch sauce, french fries, the biggest dinner roll I've ever seen, cheese tortellini soup, a side of veggies, and rice pudding for dessert. And a gigantic chocolate milk. All for about $12. Seriously. This might have been the most astounding part of the whole evening:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xEImR1R9xfs/Thes_-e8mgI/AAAAAAAAAqc/v4mtjIrS2_k/s1600/mke1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xEImR1R9xfs/Thes_-e8mgI/AAAAAAAAAqc/v4mtjIrS2_k/s400/mke1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627156474527259138" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Anyway. We got to the festival a little later than we maybe would have liked. Typical hipster-kid kind of show. Everyone was in their early twenties and dressed to impress, or at least look like they didn't care, but really did. The sound quality left a little to be a desired, and we had to stand quite uncomfortably packed like sardines on bleacher seats (bleacher seats, really?)... I love Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. LOVE THEM. Their one album</span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" > </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">is one of my all-time favorite albums. It's amazing. But the show was a typical festival show, and it was a little uncomfortable and not exactly super.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I would love to see them again, but maybe after another album is released... ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Regardless, we had a great time in MKE, and now that Maddy lives there, I look forward to more frequent trips to visit and check out the restaurants and such nearby. She keeps reminding me that there's a fab sushi place I've got to check out. ;D</span><br /></span><span style="display: block; font-family: verdana;font-size:85%;" id="formatbar_Buttons" ><span onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 8);ButtonMouseDown(this);" class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_CreateLink" title="Link"><img src="http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif" alt="Link" class="gl_link" border="0" /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-71273537700380828602011-07-06T19:35:00.002-05:002011-07-06T19:40:37.241-05:00The little things.<span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nQR85EUMCHE/ThUAJVFIkPI/AAAAAAAAAqU/gp0nL6bz1Bs/s1600/cup.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nQR85EUMCHE/ThUAJVFIkPI/AAAAAAAAAqU/gp0nL6bz1Bs/s400/cup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626403469746802930" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Not very often, but occasionally, I like to go to antique malls and just wander. Never with the intention of finding anything specific -- how can one expect that in those places, really? There's always so much stuff, ranging from what is essentially junk to high-end furniture and jewelry. It's cathartic in a way, and if you go in without any expectations, anything you find can feel like a treasure.<br /><br />The other day I went out to a couple local antique places with mom, and I managed to find a few things, among them being simply the most gorgeous periwinkle glass teacup and saucer. It's square! It's such an amazing color, and the glass is so milky, that when it sits on my window sill, it nearly glows.<br /><br />I love it. It was $4. I'm sure I've never loved a teacup so much in my life. ;)</span><br /><br /></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-45871938033497114942011-07-05T21:04:00.002-05:002011-07-05T21:16:03.486-05:00Cy Twombly 25.04.1928 - 05.07.2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljs4ytFDvj1qz7i2xo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&amp;Expires=1310004779&amp;Signature=DnOVvGVtrQzBqlcYMfrT%2BjpjLYE%3D"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 440px; height: 370px;" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljs4ytFDvj1qz7i2xo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&amp;Expires=1310004779&amp;Signature=DnOVvGVtrQzBqlcYMfrT%2BjpjLYE%3D" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">True artistic greatness -- so, so few reach that pinnacle of genius -- even if only for a short time, or with a particular series. It's an astounding achievement to have an entire career that could be considered "greatness." One of my all-time favorite artists </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/cy-twombly-idiosyncratic-painter-dies-at-83/">passed away today</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. His work is some of the best I've ever admired; every time I saw one of his pieces, I knew instinctively that it was his. He was a bona fide genius, a titan of modern art. He took directions no one else could conceive of; he is absolutely singular, and his legacy is sure to endure. Mr. Cy Twombly was 83.</span></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ashleygtucker.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/04houstonlarge1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 463px; height: 306px;" src="http://www.ashleygtucker.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/04houstonlarge1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://flashfiction.net/twombly.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 467px; height: 311px;" src="http://flashfiction.net/twombly.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-22053486702634212822011-07-03T19:45:00.011-05:002011-07-03T22:38:16.156-05:00Scottish Blueberry Dessert with English Custard<span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nd9OHgWMR3k/ThE0pAcKuVI/AAAAAAAAAqE/lhMDm6WhPgI/s1600/custard4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nd9OHgWMR3k/ThE0pAcKuVI/AAAAAAAAAqE/lhMDm6WhPgI/s400/custard4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625335288659884370" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I should just preface this whole entry with the comment that this is a weird dessert, and I was surprised how much I liked it. I made it the authentic Scottish way (or so <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Highlanders-cookbook-Recipes-Scotland/dp/B00005XFWG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1309750616&amp;sr=8-1">the book</a> said), using bread, butter, berries, and sugar -- and that's it. Having tested it, it would be awesome with an angelfood or a biscuit layer instead of bread. But as with anything, I had to try it the correct way first! And I'm really not disappointed... it's just different. If you want something that's a cross between a no-bake cake and bread pudding with berries, here's where it's at -- adapted from The Highlander's Cookbook by Sheila MacNiven Cameron.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I found some white bread and blueberries at the farmers market on Saturday, so I definitely had to use those for this recipe. It would just as easily go with blackberries, raspberries, etc.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UxMMfDgJg1w/ThEzgSf3RiI/AAAAAAAAApU/ShReRL7iqTg/s1600/scotbread1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UxMMfDgJg1w/ThEzgSf3RiI/AAAAAAAAApU/ShReRL7iqTg/s400/scotbread1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625334039376774690" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ingredients:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1qt. fresh berries, stewed with 1/4 cup granulated sugar &amp; 1/3 cup water</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 tablespoon lemon juice</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 lb. loaf of firm, dense white bread</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1/4 to 1/3 cup soft butter</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kkfT30zFc-Q/ThEztaTFPqI/AAAAAAAAApc/GDeIexgrLng/s1600/scotbread2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kkfT30zFc-Q/ThEztaTFPqI/AAAAAAAAApc/GDeIexgrLng/s400/scotbread2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625334264808947362" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Drain juice from berries and set aside. Remove crusts from the bread and slice into thin slices, then butter both sides and line a loaf pan completely with the bread to make a complete shell. Fill the shell with the drained fruit and press down firmly. Cover the fruit with a lid of buttered bread. Mix reserved berry juice with the lemon juice and pour evenly over all. Weight down a lid or a plate on top of the pan and set in refrigerator overnight for at least 24 hours. Unmold very carefully and serve cold with cream or custard sauce. Serves 6-8.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rsoqi8RFXo4/ThEz324odyI/AAAAAAAAApk/VQjfizjIDz8/s1600/scotbread3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rsoqi8RFXo4/ThEz324odyI/AAAAAAAAApk/VQjfizjIDz8/s400/scotbread3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625334444281329442" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lessons learned: all that butter doesn't do much to loosen up the entire dessert from the pan, so in future I would put a piece of parchment paper down first in the pan before lining it with bread.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">As for the custard...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I scoured the internet for a good English custard recipe. They're all similar, some varying in kinds of sugar or amounts of egg yolks, so I settled on something along these lines after combining elements from a few:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ingredients:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">8 egg yolks</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 teaspoon vanilla extract</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 cup heavy cream</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">1 cup half and half</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">2 cups whole milk</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">6 tablespoons granulated sugar</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Pour the cream, milk, and 4 tablespoons of sugar into a pot and heat on medium heat until simmering, but not boiling. Add vanilla extract and stir.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In a separate bowl, combine 8 egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Whisk until light yellow.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Pour a little bit of heated cream mixture into the egg mixture bowl while whisking constantly. Add a little bit more, still whisking, then return the egg mixture to the cream mixture on the stove and stir. Stir for several minutes until custard begins to thicken. It is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon, and can be served hot or cold, with dessert or plain.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3AJsUhBImpQ/ThE0DJHyuLI/AAAAAAAAAps/o5kaZ4-k96c/s1600/custard2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3AJsUhBImpQ/ThE0DJHyuLI/AAAAAAAAAps/o5kaZ4-k96c/s400/custard2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625334638155315378" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Beautiful eggies.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PL13v_qHk04/ThE0XMbwg3I/AAAAAAAAAp0/5eYLWzt8Ufw/s1600/custard3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PL13v_qHk04/ThE0XMbwg3I/AAAAAAAAAp0/5eYLWzt8Ufw/s400/custard3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625334982641746802" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dyNAzIb-hJM/ThE0icLgHXI/AAAAAAAAAp8/hMWdcmB1BdU/s1600/custard1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dyNAzIb-hJM/ThE0icLgHXI/AAAAAAAAAp8/hMWdcmB1BdU/s400/custard1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625335175847091570" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Yummy! :D</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P3Y08nX30a0/ThE02XyXjJI/AAAAAAAAAqM/PyClmnWAu0M/s1600/custard5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P3Y08nX30a0/ThE02XyXjJI/AAAAAAAAAqM/PyClmnWAu0M/s400/custard5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625335518265314450" border="0" /></a></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-38631854867037925392011-07-02T12:00:00.006-05:002011-07-02T12:09:51.592-05:00Saturday noon.<span style="font-size:85%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d1V18lP_Ux0/Tg9QPUE26YI/AAAAAAAAApE/SlqFvRcmuY4/s1600/market1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d1V18lP_Ux0/Tg9QPUE26YI/AAAAAAAAApE/SlqFvRcmuY4/s400/market1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624802683626383746" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I start this post, the weekly noon-time tornado siren test is going off. It's over 80 degrees outside, the sky is blue-blue-blue, everything is green, my plants could probably use some water, my cat is lolling around the cool stone floor, and it feels a lot like summer.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Probably because it's July. Summer felt like it took ages to get here this year. But finally. Finally!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I traipsed over to the farmer's market this morning -- the big one this time. It was busy, but not too busy -- sometimes it's insane. It is 4th of July weekend, though, and I suppose a lot of people are out of town. It was nice. There was a lot of selection; we even splurged and had mini cinnamon-sugar donuts for a mid-market snack.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The one thing I'm not too happy about is the bread that I bought specifically for the Scottish berry dessert I made -- will show later -- because it was a little dry. So, experiment overwith, I've determined that the best bakery in town is to be found my own local once-kind-of-dinky-now-actually-pretty-good farmers market one block from my apartment. But even kind of dry bread makes good </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://kmothes.blogspot.com/2011/06/best-french-toast-ever.html">French toast</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Otherwise, the produce was much better this time around. Strawberries, blueberries, sugar snap peas (guh! yum!), and red potatoes. I plan to eat the strawberries and the peas plain for snacks, the blueberries have already gone into the Scottish dessert, and the red potatoes are going to get smashed up and roasted.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n0Cw02pIVJ8/Tg9QWbVPJoI/AAAAAAAAApM/fffcnSx6GPA/s1600/market2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-n0Cw02pIVJ8/Tg9QWbVPJoI/AAAAAAAAApM/fffcnSx6GPA/s400/market2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624802805833213570" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Can't go wrong.</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-54642512133047433492011-07-01T19:42:00.008-05:002011-07-01T20:31:54.956-05:00I could write all night.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I don't dwell too much -- or try not to -- on things that happen at work when I am not at work. I make an effort to keep work separate from life outside of work -- which is easy enough to do when one works retail because you can pretty easily leave the store and leave it behind for the day. But it is worth mentioning that when things get stressful at work, it's harder to shake off that feeling when you know it's going to be stressful again the next time you go in. I mean, it's no small thing to work 40+ hours per week somewhere; it's a big chunk of your life that can affect your attitude hugely if things aren't going the way they're meant to.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />It was like that for about a month at the bookstore as they/we were busy implementing all sorts of new technology and inventorying all the books/CDs/movies/younameit, and the overwhelming feeling of being overwhelmed was getting the place collectively down. It was a little touch-and-go there for a while; I never knew what sort of situation I was going to walk in on when I went into work.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">For my part, I consider a number of people at the bookstore good friends. Like, awesome friends. And it was a bummer to see people that I usually have such a great time with, not having such a great time.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">But... as it always does, it subsided. And once all the craziness started to calm down and things started getting back to normal, and all of us took a big breath and thought, okay, moving on... a few of us managed to get together for some bevvies and the world turned upside-up. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />Beer and liquor, pizza and pancakes and coffee. Lots of coffee. Typing up poems, listening to music, laying on a dewy lawn and smoking too many cigarettes. Singing and dancing, and drinking more coffee.<br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39j1rZXkn2A/Tg5zxG31RkI/AAAAAAAAAo8/I7EKObqNI4I/s1600/DSC020201.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-39j1rZXkn2A/Tg5zxG31RkI/AAAAAAAAAo8/I7EKObqNI4I/s400/DSC020201.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624560272127903298" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Somehow, at least for me, like a switch was flipped back on, things are once again wonderful in the world.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">That may seem like an overstatement, but it's not: I am merely appreciating (vigorously) how much my friends and these (sometimes </span></span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;" >very</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">) spontaneous gatherings make me happy. </span> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><br />I also dread/love the first hint of sunrise every time.<br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5qSPFE69t98/Tg5yJTLSdBI/AAAAAAAAAo0/TM8s2qVDE_k/s1600/DSC02039.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5qSPFE69t98/Tg5yJTLSdBI/AAAAAAAAAo0/TM8s2qVDE_k/s400/DSC02039.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624558488724337682" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />So now that I'm all rejuvenated...</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">It was time to think about something to make -- I needed an ingredient list for the farmer's market tomorrow so that I could stay within my means/bounds. I flipped through a couple of my cookbooks and found one that I had nearly forgotten about: </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Highlanders-cookbook-Recipes-Scotland/dp/B00005XFWG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1309568985&amp;sr=8-1">The Highlander's Cookbook: Recipes from Scotland</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> by Sheila MacNiven Cameron (Gramercy Publishing Co., 1966).<br /><br /></span> <a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-003NuyOZDvQ/Tg5wd65vzAI/AAAAAAAAAos/wQF8WtIRlt4/s1600/scotland.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-003NuyOZDvQ/Tg5wd65vzAI/AAAAAAAAAos/wQF8WtIRlt4/s400/scotland.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624556643962309634" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />I picked it up after getting back from my most recent trip to Europe where my family and I roadtripped through Scotland (and now can hardly go through a day without wishing ourselves back there). We were spoiled by a bunch of authentic Scottish food while we were there, and when I ran across this oldie at the bookstore not too long after getting back home, I knew I had to have it.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">How could I have almost forgotten about it!?</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">I've found a simple cold dessert recipe perfect for the farmer's market tomorrow that uses blueberries and bread to make a bread pudding/cake that is then poured over with cream or custard.</span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">Can't wait!</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-38409901209063412562011-06-29T17:31:00.019-05:002011-06-29T18:18:34.408-05:00A little kitsch in the kitch.<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The major kitchen task of painting (most of) the walls is now finito. It's so much more refreshing to look at an entirely painted wall rather than random swatches and samples stuck everywhere...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, from square one:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I had a messy, messy kitchen. But of course, in line with the way I usually do things, I didn't do the practical thing first, which was clean. Instead, I just moved things around as I went along, including dishes, plants, electrical cords and then of course all the big furniture and wall hangings.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">All of the switch covers I took out to my handy ventilated screen porch and threw them on the floor to put a fresh coat of spray paint on them and make them all the same white, and clean them up a little.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U5CusoLt1cY/Tguqd6dvYqI/AAAAAAAAAmc/MEai9NodhGU/s1600/kitch2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U5CusoLt1cY/Tguqd6dvYqI/AAAAAAAAAmc/MEai9NodhGU/s400/kitch2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623775990589121186" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dlT5l22ia5Y/Tguqk_jnEOI/AAAAAAAAAmk/MkPB7TpGGU0/s1600/kitch1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dlT5l22ia5Y/Tguqk_jnEOI/AAAAAAAAAmk/MkPB7TpGGU0/s400/kitch1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623776112215003362" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Always good to keep all the screws together in one place. In my case, I was basically freshening up white switch plates anyway, so I didn't have to worry about the color of the screws, which normally come with the heads painted the color of the plate. Just something to keep in mind in case the need to spray paint switch plates in any other color comes alone... ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">It really wasn't too bad, except that it looked like the kitchen had been through an earthquake or two.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I went through and pulled off all the outlet and switch covers, and also removed the metal cover of the ventilation fan that sits on the wall above the stove. (Ew. It needed to be cleaned anyway.)</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4ibfpy_94sw/Tgup-HKaQqI/AAAAAAAAAmM/hPx05ZMdaRc/s1600/kitch13.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4ibfpy_94sw/Tgup-HKaQqI/AAAAAAAAAmM/hPx05ZMdaRc/s400/kitch13.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623775444241892002" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I put the first coat on in one evening, then waited for it to dry before doing the second coat the following evening. After the first night it looked something like this (from the hallway):</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jGGEPZMUjo8/TgurIfYAnUI/AAAAAAAAAms/W3z2eor7lVA/s1600/kitch3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jGGEPZMUjo8/TgurIfYAnUI/AAAAAAAAAms/W3z2eor7lVA/s400/kitch3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623776722051702082" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Messy. !!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">But then I put the second coat on last night, and cleaned up quite a bit -- I moved that bulky cabinet thing into the living room so the hallway has opened up quite a bit.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">My kitchen actually echoes now. Might have to work on putting in a textile or two!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">This kitchen has been a work in progress since I moved in. The apartment was built in the 1960s sometime, and all of the cabinet work and everything was built then, and had been mostly unchanged... until KATE CAME ALONG, that is. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Just for before/after sake, here are a few photos of what the place looked like before I moved in, in much its original state. Good ol' 1960s-style wood stain and all (and check out how there are a million cabinet doors!!)...</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-elDPJg_5wKI/TguwyQMRNPI/AAAAAAAAAoU/W-57OG-35w8/s1600/14539_588936097031_185003421_34621047_1852055_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-elDPJg_5wKI/TguwyQMRNPI/AAAAAAAAAoU/W-57OG-35w8/s400/14539_588936097031_185003421_34621047_1852055_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623782937088570610" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">(with sister!)</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jumayl9GH-A/Tguw7H7NroI/AAAAAAAAAoc/tSQ5_Ga6CIw/s1600/14539_588936102021_185003421_34621048_1006391_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jumayl9GH-A/Tguw7H7NroI/AAAAAAAAAoc/tSQ5_Ga6CIw/s400/14539_588936102021_185003421_34621048_1006391_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623783089488375426" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">This wall is not original to the apartment. It used to be open to allow for a bit more kitchen counter space that L'ed around, and then to a large living room in the front that looked down onto the main street. The wall was put in to provide a meeting area and storage space in the front for the coffee shop.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B56t0Cknp0M/TguxP2NiRQI/AAAAAAAAAok/_kJE8k_MeH0/s1600/14539_588936121981_185003421_34621051_2842729_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B56t0Cknp0M/TguxP2NiRQI/AAAAAAAAAok/_kJE8k_MeH0/s400/14539_588936121981_185003421_34621051_2842729_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623783445510636802" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Down the hall.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sooo... for your viewing pleasure....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">THE MIDDLE STAGES (before I even painted the cabinets):</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wqLMc4mFfso/TgusOK2dLGI/AAAAAAAAAm0/PQqVjeBTsKc/s1600/DSC09970.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wqLMc4mFfso/TgusOK2dLGI/AAAAAAAAAm0/PQqVjeBTsKc/s400/DSC09970.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623777919133101154" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WnfjIbA2KIc/TgusZt472OI/AAAAAAAAAm8/noC2X1Ih6iI/s1600/DSC09956.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WnfjIbA2KIc/TgusZt472OI/AAAAAAAAAm8/noC2X1Ih6iI/s400/DSC09956.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623778117517301986" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gF6WWQehJ7o/TgushVADH2I/AAAAAAAAAnE/wFyFmeCEdYM/s1600/DSC09958.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gF6WWQehJ7o/TgushVADH2I/AAAAAAAAAnE/wFyFmeCEdYM/s400/DSC09958.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623778248275205986" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">... and AFTER (today! hooray!):</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wF6i4tmZjo0/Tgut6NVh3SI/AAAAAAAAAn8/ls6ML6au4vY/s1600/kitch12.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wF6i4tmZjo0/Tgut6NVh3SI/AAAAAAAAAn8/ls6ML6au4vY/s400/kitch12.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623779775226174754" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CX0qaq1i9Io/Tgus8m5natI/AAAAAAAAAnU/l1jWpwv78Ik/s1600/kitch7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CX0qaq1i9Io/Tgus8m5natI/AAAAAAAAAnU/l1jWpwv78Ik/s400/kitch7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623778716936530642" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The plan is to turn the door next to the fridge into a giant chalkboard.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OeVVXmQwxN0/TgutKCqVjpI/AAAAAAAAAnc/LXDwfI1KrB4/s1600/kitch8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OeVVXmQwxN0/TgutKCqVjpI/AAAAAAAAAnc/LXDwfI1KrB4/s400/kitch8.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623778947726937746" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cHSSkciizAg/TgutRpRW4ZI/AAAAAAAAAnk/ELk8q459nMs/s1600/kitch9.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cHSSkciizAg/TgutRpRW4ZI/AAAAAAAAAnk/ELk8q459nMs/s400/kitch9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623779078350234002" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The hallway is in some serious need of wall decoration, but I'm so happy with the way the color brightened it up.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UGrJkEecuZE/Tgutd2_GneI/AAAAAAAAAns/4SiMbclhHpc/s1600/kitch10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UGrJkEecuZE/Tgutd2_GneI/AAAAAAAAAns/4SiMbclhHpc/s400/kitch10.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623779288190197218" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">I really gotta do something about the way everything is displayed on top of the cabinets, or what is displayed there, but someday I'll figure it out. And the "backsplash" (although there isn't really one) needs some decoration desperately!</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mmz4pG7p6GQ/TguuEHgd__I/AAAAAAAAAoE/CmPlBTyi0Pk/s1600/kitch5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Mmz4pG7p6GQ/TguuEHgd__I/AAAAAAAAAoE/CmPlBTyi0Pk/s400/kitch5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623779945460137970" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KS2CcYWRIWA/TguuONeqz9I/AAAAAAAAAoM/Q9jYA6LhCxg/s1600/kitch4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KS2CcYWRIWA/TguuONeqz9I/AAAAAAAAAoM/Q9jYA6LhCxg/s400/kitch4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623780118861893586" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Some kitsch for my kitch!</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fwtjvuxxsKE/TgutrHsaMjI/AAAAAAAAAn0/4m0q9QSIcW8/s1600/kitch11.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fwtjvuxxsKE/TgutrHsaMjI/AAAAAAAAAn0/4m0q9QSIcW8/s400/kitch11.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623779516013490738" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The view from the living room. I was under strict orders not to, under any circumstances, repaint the green cabinet (which is fine, because I would never want to!) -- it is full of weird old kitschy stuff, cookbooks, and baking ingredients. And note the one mismatched kitchen chair! The three red ones were found on the curb in Madison, WI.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o-IE-JMwQOY/Tgusr4MJvGI/AAAAAAAAAnM/9dZR2TOl3Hs/s1600/kitch6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o-IE-JMwQOY/Tgusr4MJvGI/AAAAAAAAAnM/9dZR2TOl3Hs/s400/kitch6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623778429519903842" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">And that's the whole of the painting saga in the kitchen. It's the second time I put a coat of paint in here... and probably the last.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Whew!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The best part will be figuring out what the do with all this clear, bright wall space now. ;)</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3583018841732885293.post-30171305498337451342011-06-28T19:43:00.004-05:002011-06-28T19:55:06.885-05:00Like waiting for paint to dry...<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Soooo, success! I finished putting the second coat of "aqua breeze" on the kitchen walls and it looks so great! But, because the room itself is still kind of a mess, here's a picture of my cat from his nest/cockpit/opera box:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xCTmLUyOhQg/Tgp1mzBHcII/AAAAAAAAAl0/BV_aS0s5edE/s1600/kitchen6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xCTmLUyOhQg/Tgp1mzBHcII/AAAAAAAAAl0/BV_aS0s5edE/s400/kitchen6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623436394115854466" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">And a quick teaser:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5em4GJOopoQ/Tgp1zhMfLQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/Z0sJ1j5NH_I/s1600/kitchen7.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5em4GJOopoQ/Tgp1zhMfLQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/Z0sJ1j5NH_I/s400/kitchen7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623436612670008578" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">And it's pretty much a wrap! Except that I worked at 6am this morning and then came home and proceeded to redo my kitchen. Exhaustion was inevitable! Plenty more on the way!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">And Phantomcat of the Opera would like to remind you/me...</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bRb7M8N2LU/Tgp2CQ0Cq4I/AAAAAAAAAmE/ABmu6nFihE4/s1600/kitchen5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bRb7M8N2LU/Tgp2CQ0Cq4I/AAAAAAAAAmE/ABmu6nFihE4/s400/kitchen5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623436865970547586" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">"We are past the point of no retuuuurn!!"</span></span>Kate Motheshttps://plus.google.com/114627495940438125779noreply@blogger.com0